The present application relates generally to the field of automotive vehicle seat systems and more specifically to the field of mechanisms for use in automotive vehicle seat systems having the purpose of providing increased utility to the user.
Traditionally, seat assemblies in vehicles have been known to provide adjustability for users for the purpose of utility or convenience, including, for example, the ability to move a seat positioned for occupant seating to a position such that a passenger may more easily gain entry to a seat positioned behind the adjustable seat. It has been known to provide adjustability of a “front row” seat to a forward position to gain ingress to a “second row” seat on vehicles such as a coupe (i.e. a two door vehicle) as well as providing adjustability of “second row” seats to a forward position to gain ingress to a “third row” seat on vehicles such as vans, trucks, sport utility vehicles, and others similarly configured with more than two rows of seats.
Many different ways have been utilized to adjust the seat to a forward ingress position. For example, the seatback may be rotated with respect to the seat cushion while, at the same time, releasing a pair of tracks (typically used for comfort adjustment of the seat in the forward and rearward directions) to allow the seat to shuttle forward (i.e. towards the instrument panel of a coupe vehicle), thereby maximizing the ingress/egress space for the user. Also, to achieve a forward ingress position, the seatback may rotate from a reclined comfort position for occupant seating into a folded position, in which the seatback is folded down toward the seat base.
One problem associated with many adjustable seat assemblies is that when the seat is folded, the original desired position of the seatback (i.e., a user's comfort position) may be lost, requiring it to be re-set upon unfolding the seatback portion. Accordingly, it would be advantageous to provide a seat assembly having a “memory” feature such that the seatback may return to the desired comfort position (i.e. the specific position prior to folding the seatback) after the seatback is unfolded from its easier ingress position.
It would also be advantageous to provide this memory feature such that the comfort adjust handle would still be allowed to rotate, while the seat was in its forward ingress position. This would convey to the user that the handle and, thus, the connected mechanism is still operable, without allowing for loss of user's specific comfort position.
Accordingly, it would be advantageous to provide a seat assembly having a mechanism system that provides one or more of these advantageous features or addresses one or more of the above-identified concerns. Other features and advantages will be made apparent from the present disclosure.